Method and means for lashing cable



.Oct. 23, 1956 J. w. CHANNELL METHOD AND MEANS FOR LASHING CABLE 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 4. I952- llll'l'lllill'lllllllll'lllllllllll W,R in r W va w 0a. 23, 1956 J. w. CHANNELL 2,767,742

METHOD AND MEANS FOR LASHING CABLE Filed Nov. 4. -1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Jame-s W C/m/mmu, INVENTOR.

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United States Patent METHOD AND MEANS FOR LASHIN G CABLE James W.Channell, San Marino, Calif. Application November 4, 1952, Serial No.318,674 9 Claims. (Cl. 140-93) The present invention relates to a methodand means of lashing cable.

At the present time it is ordinary practice to provide what is known asa strand which extends between a number of poles, the poles usuallybeing situated, in modern practice, approximately 150 feet apart. Thestrand is adapted to support cable of different size, the cable beinglashed to the strand, particularly where long stretches are encountered,and this task is tedious and painstaking, requires many operations andlinemen, together with extensive apparatus.

The inventor, who has had a long experience in the operation of lashingcable to a strand knows that such an operation is tedious and, atpresent, is accomplished in many ways, such as by providing loops orrings situated at spaced distances on the strand and through which loopsthe cable is drawn, followed by the placing of a spinning machine on thestrand, which machine spins or wraps the strand and cable approximatelyevery 13 /2 inches. Such loops or rings as may be temporarily supportingthe cable must be moved forwardly of the spinning machine, which may bedone either by a lineman or by automatic means connected with thespinning machine, and upon the spinning machine reach-ing the next polein the progress of wrapping, the spinning machine must be removed fromthe strand, and placed on the opposite side of the pole in order tocontinue the spinning operation. The spinning machine is usually pulledalong by a truck or by a rope in the hands of an operator who walks onthe ground, and it is evident that if trees or :other obstruction isencountered, that great difiiculty will result so far as use of thespinning machine is concerned. This, for the reason that the rope whichpulls the spinning machine will have to be thrown over the obstruction.Furthermore, the bobbin connected with the spinning machine may strikethe obstruction, necessitating removal of the obstruction, methodsrequire many tools and operators, and the use of temporary supports,which must be removed, as well as the use of spinning machines, whichare quite heavy and difiicult to handle.

An object of the present invention is to provide a simple andexpeditious method and means for stringing cable, and one that requiresfew operators, wherein obstructions, such as trees, do not interferewith the stringing operation, which is inexpensive to use, and which issuperior to methods and mean's'now knownto the inventor.

In the drawings:

- Figure 1 is an elevation showing two poles, between which cable is tobe strung, and secured to a cable support strand; 7 A V Figure 2 is aview similar to Figure l, the cable having been moved between the twopoles and slightly beyond a second pole, with the means of the inventionslackly wrapped around the supporting strand and the cable;

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2, with the slack Thus, the presentbetween the two poles removed from the means for lashing the cable tothe strand;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary view of the means for lashing the cable to astrand; and

Figure 5 is a fragmentary enlarged detail of grip means between apulling line and the cable and secured to the means for lashing thecable to the supporting strand.

Referring now with particularity to the drawings, I have shown in theseveral figures two poles 1 and 2, which are ordinarily spaced apartapproximately feet. At 3 is a strand which extends between the two polesand beyond each pole, as shown in the figures, the said strand beingheld taut between the two poles and any following poles by means ofclamps, such as shown at 4 and 5. These clamps are ordinarily known as3-bolt clamps. As is well known in the art, cable such as 6, is usuallyon the reel 8, and as the cable is pulled between poles, the reeI isrotated, the supports for the reel not being shown. What is known as aone-bolt clamp 7 is secured to one side of the pole 2, and astraightening shoe 9 is positioned on the pole 2, and through which thecable 6 is passed. The cable 6, after passing through the straighteningshoe 9 is secured to one end of a grip 10 of the type shown in Figure 5.In this figure, it will be noted that the grip is of the wire mesh type,and of a diameter not much greater than that of the cable 6. One end ofsaid grip is secured to a pull line 11.

The means for lashing cable 6 to the strand 3 is shown at 12, andconstitutes a coil of Wire 13, wrapped upon a split core 14, see Figure4. One end of said coil of wire is secured to the :one-bolt clamp 7,while the opposite end is secured to the grip 10 by passing said endthrough one of the loops shown in Figure 5. The diameter of the splitcore, and the length of the core determines the number of coils of Wirethereon for any given span between poles.

The cable terminal 15 is also known as the distributing terminal, andmay be of the type described in my United States Patents Nos. 2,434,102,granted January 6, 1948, and 2,318,755, granted May 11, 1943, andwherein distributing terminals are described which permit the connectionof branch cables to the main cable. The exact location of the terminal15' depends upon the judgement of the lineman, and may be adjacent thepole 1 or to one side thereof, as shown in the figures. Assuming thatthe strand 3 has been stretched between a number of poles and secured tosaid poles by the three-bolt clamps, the pulling line 11 may, bysuitable means, be actuated to pull the cable 6 through the coil 12 bymeans of the grip 10, and in so doing, the coils will separate in themanner shown in Figure 2, which is to say, that the coils are looseabout both the strand and the cable. When the grip 10 reaches the cableterminal 15, the lineman disconnects the coil end attached to the grip10 and secures it to a one-bolt clamp 16, which is adjacent both thepole 1 and the cable terminal 15. Each pole, regardless of the number ofthe poles, has as one side thereof, one of the coils 12, as for instanceshown in Figure 1, adjacent the pole 1. Hence, as the pull line movesthe cable through the cable terminal 15, the end 17 of each successivecoil 12 is attached to the grip 10, and the second coil starts toseparate as to convolutions about both the cable and the strand 3, inthe manner shown in Figure 2, and so on for all the remaining spans. Asthe cable is advancing from right to left in the figures, pole 1 is theforward pole of the span which is fully illustrated and is the rear poleof the partly shown. span to the left of the figures. l

After the cable has been moved its required distance between spans ofany number, and it is desired to securely lash the cable to the strand3, the lineman climbs Patented Oct. 23,1956

a pole and either manually, or by apparatus, disconnects the end of thecoil secured to the clamp 16, and pulls said coils to tension the samearound the cable 6 and strand 3, as shown in Figure 3. This lashes thecable to the strand and does not allow any sag in the cable, whereuponthe coil end is again secured to the one-bolt clamp 16, and excess coilwire is removed.

The operation, uses and advantages of the invention just described areas follows:

It is evident from the description as given that a mini mum number oflinemen are required for the purpose of stringing cable and lashing thesame to a strand; that preliminarily for each pole which is to supportthe cable, there is provided for the commencement of the span, a coil orwire which is to be wrapped around the cable and the strand, thiswrapping being automatic as the cable is fed between poles. It isautomatic in its wrapping in the sense that the coils already surroundboth the strand and a portion of the cable, and continue to surround thecable and strand as the coils of wire are stretched so that theconvolutions thereof are further spaced apart. Hence, lashing at alltimes is effected in the securing of the cable to the strand. The pullline 11 has a length equal to the length of the number of spans for thecable, and this pull line is actuated from one end to draw the cablefrom the reel 8. After the cable has been strung between two poles, thecoil 12 is loosely clamped to the one-bolt clamp 16. When the cable hasbeen completely strung between all poles, the coils are then tightenedby the lineman. Thus, the work proceeds rapidly and efficiently and alarge number of tools and apparatus are rendered unnecessary in aprocedure of this character.

I claim:

1. The method of lashing cable to a supporting strand held between twopoles which consists in: passing the strand loosely through a coil ofclosely wound lashing wire, fastening the strand to both poles in tautcondition with the coil between the poles, anchoring one end of the coiladjacent the rear pole of the two poles, passing one end of the cablethrough the coil, fastening the cable end to the opposite end of thecoil, and simultaneously pulling the forward ends of the cable and thecoil toward the forward pole and roughly parallel to the strand wherebythe coil progressively expands and forms a helix loosely surroundingboth the taut strand and the cable supported thereby.

2. The method of lashing cable to a supporting strand held between twopoles which consists in: passing said strand through a closely woundcylindrical coil of wire, fastening the strand to the two poles with thecoil supported on the strand between the poles, anchoring one end of thecoil to the supporting strand adjacent one pole, passing a length ofcable through the coil, attaching a draw line to the opposite end of thewire coil and to said cable, and pulling the draw line to causeprogressive encirclement of the cable and the supporting strand withturns of wire from said coil,

3. The method of lashing cable to a supporting strand held between twopoles which consists in: passing the supporting strand through a closelywound coil of wire, fastening the strand to the two poles with the coilsupported on the strand between the poles, anchoring one end of the coilto the supporting strand, adjacent a pole, passing cable through thecoil, and anchoring the cable to the opposite end of the coil, pullingthe cable to progressively loosely wire encircle the cable andsupporting strand as the cable is pulled through the coil until thecable and the encircling wire is adjacent the second pole, thenanchoring the loosely encircling wire to the supporting strand.

4. Means for lashing pole-supported cable including:

a supporting strand positioned between a series of poles, a closelywound coil of lashing wire carried on said supporting strand in eachspan between consecutive poles, means for anchoring one end of each coilof wire adjacent a pole, means for moving a cable end consecutivelythrough said coils of wire and for continuously advancing the oppositeend of each coil of wire from one pole to the next forward pole, wherebymovement of said last means separates the convolutions of the latchingcoils, one coil after another, so that the wire of each coil extendsheiicaliy substantially the full span around both the supporting strandand said cable, and means for anchoring the forward end of each expandedcoil adjacent the forward pole of its span, whereby the cable is carriedby the supporting strand in each span by a lashing independent of thelashing between the other spans.

5. The steps in the method of stringing on a series of poles asupporting strand and a cable lashed thereto, which consists in passinga supporting strand thru a series of lashing coils equal in number tothe number of spans, anchoring the strand in taut condition to the poleswith a coil between each two consecutive poles, anchoring the rear endof each lashing coil proximate the rear pole of its span, inserting theend of a cable in sequence thru the several coils, in each spanadvancing the end of the cable simultaneously with the free forward endof the coil from proximate the rear pole of the span toward the forwardend of the span, thus expanding the coil longitudinally to extendsubstantially the length of its span whereby the coil decreases indiameter and the separated convoiutions of the coil loosely surroundboth.

the cable and the strand, anchoring the forward end of the coilproximate the forward pole of the span, pulling the cablev thru the coilthus anchored at both ends into the next forward span, and continuingthe process.

6. The method of claim 5 with the further steps of releasing the forwardends of the coils when the cable has passed thru the expanded coils,tensioning the coils to bind the cable tightly to the supporting strand,and finally re-anchoring the forward end of each coil in such tensionedposition.

7. In combination a series of poles, a supporting strand anchored insubstantially taut condition to each of the poles, a cable extendingparallel and proximate the strand, and an individual coil of lashingwire for each span between consecutive poles helically surrounding thecable and the strand, each of said coils being anchored at its two endsproximate the two poles of the span.

8. The combination of claim 7 in which each coil is anchored at one endto the strand proximate the forward pole of its span and is anchored atits other end proximate the rearward pole of the span, the forwardanchoring of each coilv being a readily releasable connection, wherebywhen the cable has been loosely lashed to the strand for the series ofpoles, each forward anchoring may be loosened, the individual coils maybe tightened to bind the cable to the strand for the entire length ofthe coil, and the forward anchorings again be tightened.

9. The combination of claim 7 in which the forward end of the coil issecured to the strand proximate the forward pole of the span andaterminal is positioned between the forward pole and the point ofsecuring the coil to the strand.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,060,785 Pahl May 6, 1913 1,225,895 Turney May 15, 1917 2,213,363Creswell Sept. 3, 1940 2,277,935 Perkins Mar. 31, 1942 2,332,112Pritchard Oct. 19, 1943 2,360,237" Kent Oct. 10, 1944

